Nowitzki leads Mavericks past lowly Knicks

Dec 11, 2007 - 4:26 AM
NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Dirk Nowitzki heard more cheers than any
members of the New York Knicks and then put on a show in front
of another disgruntled crowd.

Nowitzki scored a season-high 36 points to lead the Dallas
Mavericks to a 99-89 victory over the Knicks on Monday night at
Madison Square Garden.

Josh Howard added 22 points in his first game after Saturday's
career-high 47-point performance against Utah.

Dallas shot 54 percent (36-of-67) and defeated the Knicks for
the 11th time in 12 meetings after surviving a comeback attempt
that reduced a 23-point lead to 90-83 with just over four
minutes remaining following a basket by Zach Randolph.

"We had a big enough lead and we should have kept it," Dallas
coach Avery Johnson said. "The last two minutes of the third
quarter and (first) two minutes of the fourth was absolutely
pathetic and the guys who were in there let the whole team down.
We can't afford to do that."

"It was tough, that was on the defensive (end)," Howard said.
"Dirk's our leader. He's going to go out and score the ball
like he did that. It's good to see him do that." That was the
closest the Mavericks came to blowing it. On their next
possession, Jason Terry made a 16-footer and Howard followed
with a layup that inadvertently knocked Eddy Curry out of the
contest when Howard's hand hit Curry in the face.

New York dropped its third in a row and fell to 6-14 through 20
games for the second time in three years. Of its' 14 losses, 10
have been by double digits, including the last four and this
one featured coach Isiah Thomas confronting a fan in the second
half and blaming the booing for the team's struggles.

"I wanted to make sure our team stayed focused," Thomas said
trying to downplay it. "The fans are great. We love them and
we're glad they're here."

The loudest cheers during pregame introductions were for
Nowitzki, who came into the contest averaging 21.1 points per
game. He equaled his average by driving around Curry for an
easy layup on Dallas' first possession of the second half and
then surpassed it with another jumper that put Dallas up by 17
before hearing some cheers after hitting a 3-pointer.

Nowitzki turned in his fourth 30-point performance of the season
and had it with 6:10 remaining after converting a three-point
play. He continued to hear more cheers after hitting another
3-pointer with 4:25 remaining in the quarter.

"He came out with the type of game that we wanted him to have
tonight," Johnson said. "We thought playing in the Garden and
we wanted him to come out ready to establish himself and he got
the ball early. He made some decisive moves and he was real
sure about what he was doing."

"I was able to find a rhythm really quick," Nowitzki said. "In
the last couple of weeks, my jumper didn't really feel great. I
feel great and I had a lot of lot of really good looks. I pretty
much was in attack mode all night long."

Nowitzki finished 14-of-23 from the floor and added seven
rebounds and four assists. It was his second 30-point game in
three games.

"Tonight he was feeling it and we wanted to keep feeding him,"
Terry said.

The latest rounds of loud "Fire Isiah" chants started as
Nowitzki was making a pair of foul shots for a 60-40 edge with
8:55 remaining and the booing continued until the Knicks
attempted to rally.

"It comes in slow stages," Thomas said. "I thought we finally
got some tempo, some pace and some ball movement. We were able
to play the style, the tempo and the pace we like to play at."

Nowitzki approached his scoring average in 18 first-half minutes
as he scored 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The 7-footer
scored 15 points in the opening quarter when Dallas shot 63
percent and took a 28-19 lead.

Dallas did not need Nowitzki to hold its lead as he sat for the
first five-plus minutes of the second and watched his teammates
open a double-digit lead. The Mavericks never relinquished
their double-digit lead and grabbed a 49-36 edge at halftime.

The Knicks played without Stephon Marbury, who sat out due to
personal reasons following the death of his father on December
2. Marbury's teammates were booed during introductions and
heard louder boos at the end of a first half in which they shot
an awful 29 percent (12-of-41).

Their latest loss came just two days after owner Jim Dolan met
with Thomas and appeared no closer to firing him. It also came
hours after the Anucha Browne Sanders case was settled.

Randolph sparked New York's comeback attempt with 17 of his 24
points in the fourth. Jamal Crawford added 19 but was 6-of-22
from the floor while Curry finished with six points on 3-of-13
shooting before needing three stitches on his lacerated lower
lip.